The Heart of an Artist
by thatwriterchick
Summary: What would happen to the Naruto story if there was another Uchiha Sibling? And what would happen if that sibling was Sasuke's twin sister?
1. Chapter 1

The Heart of an Artist

**Miyako**

I stood outside in my favorite courtyard staring at his note in my hand. It simply said "I love you. Always remember that," in his surprisingly neat handwriting. It seemed like I had been doing nothing but staring at this small piece of paper for two days. That and waiting for news of Naruto and the others, news of whether my brother would be coming home with them. Deep down I knew that they were most likely going to be unsuccessful. _But if they have Naruto with them,_ I kept thinking. I knew that if anyone, besides myself, had a chance at getting Sasuke to come home, it was Naruto. Being Sasuke's twin, I always had a good idea of what he was thinking and feeling. I knew that deep down, he considered Naruto as his closest friend, almost a brother. If he'd listen to anyone, it would be that knucklehead. I was relieved that Shikamaru had picked him to come, since Lady Tsunade had forbidden me from going along. "One Uchiha Twin is already in the hands of Orochimaru. I don't want the other one falling into his grasp as well," she had said.

Ever since he woke up in the hospital, Sasuke had been in complete turmoil. I knew, even though he tried to hide it from me. It was partially that we had the honest-to-God twin connection thing going on, and partially because I had always been good at reading people, especially my brothers. That's why I didn't share in Sasuke's drive for revenge. I knew that there had been something more going on, even if I didn't know what it was. It went against Itachi's nature to kill our clan "to test his abilities." He wouldn't have given up his dream for the sake of something as ridiculous as that. And he wouldn't have told me he was leaving for a special mission that the Hokage had given him. Itachi never lied to me. He knew there was no point because I would see through it. But no matter how I tried, I couldn't convince Sasuke of this.

I could feel that, somewhere, Sasuke was fighting. I could always tell when he was fighting or in pain, as he could tell with me. I don't know how to explain it, we just knew. It was almost like an adrenaline rush. Even if one of us wasn't fighting, we would both experience heightened senses. Several months ago, when he was in the Land of Waves and I was here in the village, I had been having lunch at the dango shop with my boyfriend. Suddenly I was hyper-aware of everything around me. I knew Sasuke was fighting, which he'd been doing a lot of over the course of his absence. Soon I was feeling piercing pains all over my body. I tried my best to ignore it. Gradually, I became more and more aware of what was going on around me. I could see in clear detail every little hair in the fur lining of Kiba's coat. Everything began to slow down and take on a slightly redish hue.

"Miyako!" Kiba exclaimed, taking me by surprised when he used my real name rather than the nickname Itachi had given me which everyone called me by, "Your eyes are red!"

"What do you mean?" I said as I reached into my purse, pulled out my compact, and flipped it open, "My eyes aren't…Sharingan!"

I closed my eyes and when I opened them, my eyes were back to their normal black. I blinked twice more and was able to activate and deactivate my kekkei genkai.

"What? Sharingan?" Kiba asked.

"I got to go. I'll talk to you later," I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss then grabbed my purse and started running.

"Wait! Mimi!" Kiba yelled as I left.

I didn't stop running until I reached the Hokage's office. I burst into the room and some scandalized looking chuunin said, "Hey you can't just come barging in here."

"Sorry it's an emergency," I exclaimed as I ran to the desk.

"Miyako, what is the mean—" he fell silent when he saw me activate the Sharingan.

He was quiet for a moment, "Well, this changes things. You're dismissed."

"But—"

"I'm sorry, but a matter of great importance has just come up."

The chuunin left, mumbling apologies.

"How long?" Lord Hokage asked me.

"Not long. No more then a few minutes. Sasuke's activated his as well. I know because I've always been able to sense when he's fighting. He's been fighting for about thirty minutes and he activated Sharingan at the same moment I did," even as I spoke, I knew it was true.

"I think I'm gonna have Kakashi give you both extra training so that you can begin to hone your Shar—" I didn't here the rest of what he said.

_I was surrounded by mirrors made of ice. I watched, in slow motion, as a person in a mask flew out of one of the mirrors and went in for the kill. Instead of going for me, as I was expecting, he went for Naruto. I moved before being conscious of doing so. I could feel his needles embedding themselves in my skin, hitting vital points. I grabbed the boy's hands and threw him into one of his ice mirrors. Behind me Naruto started to come to. I told him that he never fails to get in the way. I watched as he realized that I was severely injured. "You should see the look on your face. You look like a loser."_

_Naruto asked why I saved him. I said I didn't know why. Memories of the two of us together started running through my head. I told him that I had hated him. Naruto asked why again and when I didn't answer he started yelling about how he didn't ask me to save him. I told him again that I didn't know why, that my body did it on its own. "Loser," I choked out as I fell to the ground._

_I felt Naruto catch me before I hit. I told him that I promised myself that I would live until I had killed my brother and not to let his dream die. I left unspoken why I wanted to kill him; to avenge my clan, but also for my sister. I saw how it devastated her when he left. "Miyako…Miko," I whispered._

_I remembered why I started calling her Miko. It was because when I was first learning to speak, I couldn't quite say Miyako, so I said Miko. It had been my nickname for her from that time on, although I didn't call her by that name much anymore. I remembered how she, wanting to have a nickname for me as well, started calling me Suke-suke. They were stupid, immature names, but we were very young._

_I felt things growing dim. I couldn't see Naruto anymore, all I could see was Miko's face. I knew she knew. Before everything completely went away, I felt Naruto hug me. I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness, but I couldn't move my face. I couldn't even breathe. Faintly, I heard the masked guy say, "He found strength he didn't realize he had to protect a person that was precious to him. He was a true ninja worthy of honor."_

_Did you hear that, Miko?_

I could hear screaming. It was the most horrible blood-curdling scream I had ever heard, and it sounded like my brother's name. It had taken me a second to realize that I was the one screaming out his name. It was almost as if I thought I could bring him back if I screamed long enough. Everyone had left me. I was completely alone. Everyone was gone: Mom, Dad, Itachi, and now Sasuke. I didn't know what to do. It was as if my heart had died with Sasuke. He had taken the last shattered piece of my long broken heart…and I would never get it back.

"Miyako? Miyako? What happened?" I could hear the Hokage asking.

"He's dead," was all I could say, "He's dead."

It felt almost the same as the day of the memorial service for our clan. It had been raining that day almost five years ago. I could remember it clearly…

_I was crying and clinging to the Third Hokage's robe, his hand was resting on my head. I looked over at Sasuke. He was really pale and his hand was clenched into a fist. I took hold of his hand and squeezed it gently in mine. "It'll be alright, Suke-suke" I told him, even as tears streamed down my face, "Big brother will come back. And then everything will be ok."_

"_He won't come back," he said in a tone I'd never heard him use before. It reminded me of that day when the men that worked with Father came to our house and Itachi fought them. Sasuke sounded so much like Itachi did then. He sounded so mad, but his voice was cold. "He won't come back because he is the one who did this."_

"_No, he didn't," I was crying harder. It hurt that Sasuke was blaming Itachi. "Big brother saved me. He took me away from the house so I wouldn't get hurt. And when he left he told me he had a mission. Big brother has never lied to me before. He's on a mission, you'll see. He'll come back…"_

I started laughing, even as the tears started to stream from my eyes. The first memory I pulled up after finding out my brother was dead, was the one of our first ever fight at our parents funeral. It struck me as funny, in a completely morbid way. I heard the Hokage speaking to someone and I felt someone help me up from where I had fallen during my vision of Sasuke's death. I saw Kiba as if I was looking from a great distance. He must've followed me. "Come on. I'll take you to my place. You need to rest."

He began to pull me out of the office. I felt like a wraith, as if I wasn't in my body. I was floating somewhere watching Kiba lead me to his house. Suddenly I was back in my body and I felt warm. "He's alive."

"What? The Hokage told me you felt Sasuke die!" Kiba exclaimed.

"I did. He was dead. I don't know how, but he came back," I thought of my screaming. Maybe it had worked after all. "He's alive!"

A few weeks later when he came home, I was waiting for him at the gate. He looked almost happy as I ran towards him. To my dieing day, I will always remember the look of shock on his face when I decked him.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" I screamed, tears running down my face, "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"You saw."

I started beating his chest but I was so distraught that I'm sure it didn't hurt him at all. "Damn right, I saw. If you ever do that to me again, I swear—"

He surprised me by hugging me. He hadn't hugged me since we were seven. "I missed you too, Miko."

"Mimi," a voice brought me back to the present. I turned and saw Sakura.

"Have you heard anything?" I asked.

"I haven't heard anything from Sasuke, Kakashi, or Naruto. But they've brought in Choji, Neji, Kiba, and Akamaru. Kiba's a bit beaten up, but nothing too serious. Akamaru is in a more serious condition but the vet's with him. Choji and Neji are both in surgery right now. Shikamaru and the Sand Sibs have also come and all of them are fine," She informed me.

"And all of this was Sasuke's doing?" I asked even though I was already sure of the answer.

"No, he was with a group of Sound Ninja."

"Damn!" I cursed. _I knew it!_

"Have you sensed anything?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. All I know is he's fighting. I'm not sure who, but I'd be willing to bet money that it's Naruto.

"He's not in any great pain. Either that or he's ignoring it. I've noticed that if he's concentrating so hard on the fight that he's not really noticing the pain, it comes to me dulled."

"That's good, I guess," Sakura said slowly.

"But there's something that's been bugging me. For most of the past two days it felt a lot like when he died in the Land of Waves, but I still felt that he wasn't dead. I can't figure it out. I'm really worried about what that was. About an hour ago, he suddenly felt terrifyingly strong. Normally I don't feel him unless he's close. It's only when something bad has happened that I sense anything. There's something about this power that's wrong. I think it has to do with that—ungh!"

There was a sudden and strong pain in my left shoulder. It was so bad that I collapsed from the pain. I suddenly saw Sasuke collapsing like I was. He was looking down at Naruto. With every last ounce of strength he possessed, he forced himself to get up and finish his journey.

"Mimi!" Sakura cried.

"The fight's over. Naruto lost, but he put up one hell of a fight. Sasuke's not doing well at all. He's coughing up blood. I'm surprised he's still alive. Ungh! He's just left the fire country. I'm amazed he was able to keep the level of pain he was feeling away from me. God, I'm so tired, but it's nothing to what he's feeling."

"Well have you slept at all since he left?" Sakura asked.

"No."

"Well you need to sleep," she said, helping me up, "There's nothing you can do right now."

"I suppose your right," I said and I let her put me to bed.

_I'm sorry, Itachi. I failed._


	2. Chapter 2

_I'd like to thank Azalie-Kauriu for reviewing. I'm really glad you liked it. ^__^_

The Heart of an Artist Part II

**Sasuke**

I was standing just outside the entrance to the Sound Village. I stopped for a moment to rest. I was in so much pain. I didn't know it was possible to be in this much pain and live. He didn't stick his hand through my chest like I did to him, but he came pretty damn close. My face was badly bruised from where he punched me. I wouldn't be surprised if I some broken bones in my face. I knew for sure that my arm was broken. And all the blood I had been coughing up told me I had some internal damage. _It's a good thing I'm not going back to the village, _I thought, _Miyako would kill me for all the stupid, reckless things I've done._

This reminded me of something Naruto said when he was trying to convince me to come back, before the actual fight started. He had been telling me about how some of the others had come after me and that they had risked their lives. When it didn't convince me, he pulled out a dirty trick that I'm sure he thought would work. He brought up my sister.

"What about Mimi?" he had asked. "Shikamaru said when Granny Tsunade forbid her from coming after you, it took three Jonin to hold her back and keep her from leaving anyway. And one of them is in the hospital right now. He got burned when she did phoenix flower jutsu. I don't think he would have been burned if he hadn't been trying to hold her, but still. And I heard Granny Tsunade telling one of the Jonin to have ANBU station four people around your house to keep her from sneaking off. She risked serious punishment and injury when she attacked those Jonin, and it was all for you. You mean to tell me that you don't love her anymore or care what happens to her. She's your sister, your twin. You can't do that to her. I won't let you…"

What the dobe didn't realize was that when he brought up my sister he strengthened my resolve even more. I knew that Orochimaru wasn't truly interested in making me stronger. He just wanted the Sharingan. Any Uchiha would do and there were three of us left. I was fairly certain he had gone after Itachi already and failed, which left me and Miyako. All of her speed, stealth, and abilities didn't change the fact that Miyako was soft. She was just too kind and gentle for Orochimaru's world. She still believed Itachi was good and misunderstood, for God's sake. The darkness and evil of the Sound would destroy her. But I was fairly certain that I could get out of that hell alive. I had strength, determination, and hatred she didn't. I was also willing to be consumed by evil to gain the power to kill Itachi and keep her safe. Because I knew losing her was the one thing in this world that would truly destroy me.

With these thoughts of my kind, beautiful, and gentle Miko, I stumbled into the Snake's Lair.

**Miyako**

I was in the living room staring at a blank page in my journal. I wanted to work on a new short story that had been poking at my brain for the last week but I couldn't find the words. Worry had formed a block in my head. The speakers started blasting "What Have You Done" by Within Temptation and I couldn't take it anymore. I threw my journal across the room as I screamed, "Fuck!"

It wasn't enough. I need to break things. I ran to a small table which held a vase. I picked up the vase and threw it to the floor. I felt better as I watched the crystal brake into millions of pieces. I grabbed another vase and threw it across the room as hard as I could and watched it shatter against the wall. The dark purple roses and white lilies that had been in the vases just moments before now littered the floor.

And I didn't care.

Somehow, it still wasn't enough, so I ran to the kitchen and began to pull glass plates out of the cupboards and throw them to the floor as well. "Fuck!" I screamed again as I collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down my face. I felt the glass cutting open my hands.

"Mimi?"

Akira was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He slowly took in the sight of me crying on the floor, surrounded by glass and my hands and feet covered in blood. "What happened?' he asked.

"He left. That's what fucking happened. He promised he would protect me. How can he do that when he's with Orochimaru? Huh?"

"Oh. Come here, babe," he helped me up and wrapped his arms around me, "It'll be alright. Sasuke could never really leave you. It may not be clear right now, but maybe he thought he was protecting you when he left."

I just nodded. Sasuke leaving was only a small part of what was bothering me. The fact that I had broken the most important promise I ever made was eating me alive. Guilt's a bitch. Last night I had dreamed about the night my clan died and Itachi left. I had been playing piano, like I usually did in the evening at that time. Itachi was standing in the doorway listening to me play. I didn't know what it was, but lately he had felt different, distant. Usually he would ask me why I wasn't training with Sasuke and I would tell him it was because I could already do what Sasuke was trying to learn. He'd say, "Oh, really? Then show me," and he'd pick me up and carry me off to a special place where I'd show him my jutsu. But that night he didn't do it.

Instead he picked me up and carried me to a different place just outside the compound. "Mimi," he said, "I need you to stay right here. No matter what you hear do not leave this spot."

"Okay, Big Brother," I agreed.

"Miyako," he said sternly, "Promise me, no matter what, you will not leave this spot until I come for you."

"I promise, Itachi."

A few minutes after he left I heard the fist scream. It seemed like the screams lasted for hours and hours. Eventually the screaming stopped. I was sure Itachi had been fighting off whatever had attacked and now it was safe, but I still wouldn't move until he came for me. After what felt like several more hours, Itachi suddenly appeared out of the darkness. He was carrying Sasuke in one arm. Sasuke was asleep and had blood dripping down his arm.

"What's wrong with Sasuke?" I asked.

"He got hurt. We need to take him to the hospital. After he's been taken care of, I need to tell you something very important," Itachi explained as he picked me up in his other arm.

"Okay, Big Brother," I replied.

After we had arrived at the hospital and Itachi had handed Sasuke off to a nurse, he carried me outside and sat me on the ground.

"Mimi," he said, "I have to leave you now."

"Why, Big Brother?" I asked, "Did the Hokage give you another mission?"

"Yes, he did. And it's a very important mission. I may not be back for a very long time."

"But—"

"Please listen to me, Miyako," he said, "I need you to take care of Sasuke for me, like Mom would. Mom won't be able to take care of you anymore and Sasuke will need you. I want you to promise me that you'll take care of him. He may be different when he wakes up. He saw some bad things tonight."

"You can count on me," I said proudly. It made me happy that Itachi trusted me with something this important.

"Okay," he said, "I have to go now. I love you, my little Mimi-chan."

He kissed me right in the middle of the forehead, like he always did, and disappeared into the night. That was the last time I had seen him. When he had come to the village a while back, I had been on a mission.

Akira carried me upstairs to the bathroom. He set me on the edge of the bathtub and turned on the water so I could rinse the blood off. He then sat and patiently removed all of the glass shards from my hands and the bottoms of my feet. This was why he was my best friend in the whole world, besides Sasuke. Whether I had had a fight with Sasuke, was missing Itachi, or just wanted to go shopping and check out guys, he was there. And most of all, he believed me when I told him that there had been something more going on the night my clan died. After all the glass was out, he used a small broom and dustpan I kept under the sink to clean up the mess. When he tried the bandage the wounds, I told him I would heal them later. I had recently begun training in the medical arts under Shizune, the Hokage's assistant.

"Alright, Love," he sat down next to me on the bathtub and wrapped his arms around me, "Now, tell me what happened."

As I began to explain the promise I had made to Itachi and how I had broken it, I thought about how lucky I was when Akira and I had been assigned to the same team. I don't think we would be as close as we are now if it hadn't happened.

"I'm sure Itachi would understand," he said, trying to soothe me, "From what you've told me, Sasuke was stubborn even when you two were young. He would have followed his own path whether you tried to stop him or not."

I realized that Akira was right. I bet Itachi was even expecting something like this to happen. I stood up and looked in the mirror. It hit me for the first time in my life how much I looked like Sasuke. The only difference between us was that I looked more feminine and had considerably longer hair. I was going to have to get used to the pang that went through me at the reminder of Sasuke when I looked at my face.

Akira continued, "You'll just have to follow your path and hope that it will lead you back to your brothers someday."


	3. Chapter 3

The Heart of an Artist Part 3

**Miyako**

Once again I was standing outside in the courtyard. The Hokage had lowered the number of ANBU guarding me to two. I was trying to formulate a plan to sneak out and visit Kiba. He and Akamaru were still in the hospital. I thought that since I wasn't being eaten alive by guilt anymore, I could help make them feel better. What Aki-chan said to me yesterday had helped a lot. _"You'll just have to follow your path and hope that it will lead you back to your brothers someday."_ And that was exactly what I planned to do. I would write my stories, which I considered to be my own form of art, and train to be the best ninja I could. I wanted to be an ANBU, just like Itachi had been. I should start training again soon so I can make chuunin in the next exams.

Just then, someone I wasn't expecting entered the courtyard and broke my train of thought. It was Lady Tsunade.

"Miyako," she said as she stepped closer, "The ANBU said I'd find you here. I came to tell you that I'm removing all surveillance from you."

I began to speak but she cut me off, "Under the condition that you promise not to go after Sasuke unless I give you permission to."

"Of course, Lady Hokage. I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I'm not near strong enough to raid the Sound Village. I could drag Sasuke back if I wanted to, but getting in and out of the Sound is another matter entirely."

She smiled at me. "Good girl. Shizune says your doing well in your training."

Excitement gripped me, "She did!? That's great! I'm gonna want to get back to training as soon as possible. If I'm gonna become an ANBU then I need all the help I can get."

"ANBU, huh? The children of this village sure have lofty goals," she said almost to herself, "Well, I have things I need to do and I'm sure you wanna go see Kiba."

I blushed, "Shizune told you?"

"Yep," she then turned and left me with a little bubble of happiness. I sat for a few minutes pondering what Tsunade said about the children of this village having lofty goals. It was true. I wanted to be an ANBU; Sasuke wanted to kill Itachi, who is incredibly strong. And then there was Naruto who wanted to be Hokage. If anyone could do it, it would be him.

"Your brother just abandoned his home and you in the process and I find you smiling," a voice said behind me, "You never change, Miyako."

My smile widened as I turned to face the beautiful black cat, "Izanami, where have you been? I really needed you!"

"I was following Sasuke, if you must know," she started to rub against me, "I didn't get a chance to tell him to stop and I doubt he would have listened anyway."

"I suppose your right," I felt the smile slip off of my face.

"But if it makes you feel better, I think he only would have come back if you had talked to him. I think that's why he waited until you were asleep to slip off. That and he knew Tsunade would never let you chase after him."

I smirked, "That's Sasuke for you, too clever for his own good. But for someone so brilliant he can be extremely thick."

"Well, if you ask me, you're the brightest of them Uchiha Kids. Sure Itachi's a genius, and Sasuke has his fair share of brains, but you have all the intelligence they do and something they don't. You can read people better than anyone else I've ever met. And on top of that, you're a natural born strategist. You throw those three factors together and you get one helluva formidable shinobi."

I smiled shyly, "Thanks, Izanami. You really think I'm that good?"

"Of course. I'm just glad Sasuke's not around to hear me say it. He'd get all gloomy and storm around here for the next week until he came up with or learned a new technique. Speaking of which, how are the kittens?"

"Oh they're great! I couldn't get Amaya and Chika to quit clawing up the curtains. And Susanoo wouldn't stop trying to make a break for it. I don't know where he was trying to go, but he certainly was determined to get there."

She just gave me her little cat smirk and disappeared into the house with a flick of her tail. With the exception of Izanami, her mate, Izanagi, and their latest litter of kittens all of my clan's ninja cats were at our weapons storehouse. Izanami and Izanagi stayed in Konoha with us because they are fearsome warriors that would accompany my father on missions. Even though she was often with my father, she had always had a soft spot for Sasuke and me. When we were small she would call us her "little kittens." Izanagi was a peculiar light gray cat. He was capable of talking, like his mate, but he didn't use the ability very often. He had been a favorite of Itachi. Out of the kittens, Sasuke's Amaya was the obnoxious ringleader of the little cat gang consisting of Chika, Hana, and Hime. Come to think of it, Amaya reminded me rather a lot of a certain blond, knuckle-head ninja we all know and love. My kitten was the only boy and did his own thing away from the rest of the litter. He was a little troublemaker, but unlike Amaya, he was quiet about it. Because he—like his mother— was as dark as a storm at midnight, I had decided to name him Susanoo, God of Storms.

"_Meow_," I heard from somewhere near my ankles. Susanoo was rubbing against my leg. He was barely four months old, yet he already had the makings of a great ninja cat. He always knew when I wanted him near without me actively looking for him. By just thinking about him he would appear. While I said that he was my cat, the truth was that I was his human. He had chosen me, and I was very honored.

"What do you think, Susa?" I asked him, "Do you think I'm doing the right thing? Leaving Sasuke on his own and concentrating on my own training?"

He playfully batted my hand with his paw, which I took to mean yes. "I thought so too."


End file.
